As shearing draws to a close across the Northern Tablelands wool quality and yields are up along with the superfine wool market.
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Last week’s rain may have interrupted the tail end of shearing, but no-one was complaining as substantial falls broke a two-month long dry spell.
"Most of the wool is looking exceptional," Australian Wool Network NSW stud stock manager and northern wool representative John Croake said.
"It all seems to be very sound and there's not as much vegetable matter as we first thought. A lot of clients are reporting that their cuts are up by as much as 5 or 10 per cent in comparison with last year," he said.
Late autumn rain – even though it was followed by a very dry period – set the stage for good wool growth in many areas.
"I still have clients around Walcha, mostly shearing hoggets and there are still some sheds working around Inverell,” Mr Croake said.
"Shearing around the Hunter Valley is mostly finished, but some people at Mudgee are still going as well as some on the fringes around the Liverpool Plains.
"The shearing season in general has finnished a little earlier than normal due to the dry weather, which meant ther haven't been any hold-ups from the weather."
A strong superfine wool market should see producers rewarded for quality and breeding.
"The little bit of extra cut is very welcome considering where the market is for superfine wool at the moment," Mr Croake said.
"There should be a premium for well bred types instead of the hungry wools, and growers will reap the rewards especially from the Italian buyers."
AWN northern regional manager Harold Manttan said the indicator for 17 micron wool went up 35 cents to 2288c per kilogram last Wednesday, but was still a little lower than the peak in June and well up from this time last year at 1615c/kg.
“Our top price for the day was a client from Yass who got 2182c/kg for a spinners type 15.9 micron, ASF4, which was 80mm long and 51N/Kt,” he said.